Forbearance
by Cassie6
Summary: What happens when you are pushed to the edge?BoothBrennan
1. Chapter 1

I will be continuing with _When Darkness Falls_.I hope to have the third chapter up within the next 24hrs. This damn idea just wouldn't leave me be so, it seems I'll be writing two fics simutaneously... 

_Disclaimer:_ Own Bones or any Television show for that matter...?

Would that I could.

* * *

He sat in the dark staring out the window absently sipping a now tepid bottle of beer wondering how the hell one of the most important parts of his life had fallen apart in the past 48 hours. Chuckling wryly to himself he decided to be honest and admit that it all began long before then. Replaying events in his mind, his traitorous mind flew to the day that set this all in motion.

"_Stop avoiding me Temp."_

"_I am not avoiding you Booth, I am just busy." she replied defensively as she sidestepped him to slidebehind her desk, setting the stack of files in her arms down amongst the chaos that already resided on the surface. _

"_Fine. Stop avoiding the situation." he countered through gritted teeth._

_Averting her eyes she began sorting through the mess in front of her trying to prevent what was going to happen. Of course she couldn't just leave well enough alone. She knew that she was baiting him before she even uttered the words._

"_I don't know what you mean."_

_Groaning in frustration, Booth rounded on his heel and began pacing the space of her office wound tighter than a spring. To the casual observer, it looked as though the former Army Ranger was ready to put his dormant skills to work perhaps on the woman standing just a few feet away. Anyone that knew him though would be more than happy to point out that he'd probably like nothing more than to haul said woman against him and kiss her senseless. After a few more turns around the office he stopped in front of her desk._

"_Look at me."_

_Slowly placing her hands flat on the surface in front of her, she collected herself and prepared for the worst. Raising her eyes to his she was startled by the look in his eyes. Everything emotion, all the trust and love he had tried to convey to her in he past months was laid bare before her and he was now forcing her to acknowledge it._

"_Are you trying to get something through my thick skull here? Let me tell you something you should know about me by now, I'm not good with subtlety. If you are having second thoughts and are trying to let me down easy, just spit it out. I'm tough, I can take it."_

_He watched as the carefully guarded mask fell and sheer torment appeared on her face. She sank into the chair behind the desk and dropped her head into her hands. For a brief moment he felt guilty for making her feel this way but then quickly replaced that with the anger that bubbled just beneath the surface in regards to the situation she was creating by being scared and running. His thoughts were interrupted and then pushed aside as he heard her begin to speak._

"_If you want the truth, I'm scared shitless. Everytime I think about us, it's like a sucker punch to the gut. Is that what you want to hear? All of the most important emotional attachments in my life have been ripped away from me. Do you have any idea what that feels like? Everything in mypast has told me not to get attached, to live for the moment, that the other shoe would drop anytime it damn well felt like it. Now, with you, I honestly don't know where to go from here and I have no faith in what you are saying becauseeverything I have survived completely contradicts it."_

_He walked around the desk and crouched down beside her chair. Swiveling it around so the she was facing him he placed a finger under her chin and forced her to look him in the eye._

"_I guess what it comes down to is whether or not you trust me. I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you and you damn well know it. If you can't move forward on this with me, then we need to call it quits, just keep in mind that it would be your doing, not mine."_

_Sighing he stood and walked quietly to the door. Turning to look at her once more before he left he quietly murmured,_

"_Honestly Temp, I thought we were past this."_

Taking another swill of beer, he silently chastised himself for his words and actions that day. Sure everything had turned out great after his impassioned little speech. Dr. Temperance Brennan had taken a leap of faith that day and admitted to herself and finally, her friends that she loved him and that they were going to work on being in a committed relationship, consequences be damned. It was what he had wanted, right? Absolutely. What he hadn't known at the time was that he'd backed her into a corner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to all of you who reviewed and who have been patiently waiting for an update. Contrary to what some thought, this isn't a one-shot. I'm thinking that we're looking at about 5 chapters in total, unless maybe I should end it here... ;)**

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_I've always known that there was a small part in everyone that wants to love and be loved. This small and tender part wants to connect with another and acknowledge the desire to be more than one person, all alone in the world. I'm afraid that I have too many wounded parts and no matter how hard I try, they just won't heal. These wounded parts hold fear, disappointment, failure, resentment, hate, disgust…. I've left these issues unresolved for too long and now they are denying my heart its possibilities. I know that eventually this will all catch up with me._

_I refuse to let you become one of those wounded parts Booth._

_Right now, all I know is that you don't want me to be the girl that you'd be married to ten years from now. I'm not really sure that I can explain why that is but please, trust me, you don't want me to be that girl. And I know that sucks for me because I know I could have been, I know what we have right now but I can also see what thirty years down the road looks like and you don't deserve what I know I'll become or how badly I'll end up hurting you and whoever else comes along. No child deserves that._

_I don't want you to miss me. I don't want you to wonder what your life would have been like had I been more permanently in it. I don't want you to imagine me as the mother of your children. All I want is for you to smile because I made you happy even for a short while. Even as my best friend, I love you. You are my whole being and you could easily have been my future._

_Never once doubt that I love you._

_For what it's worth, never have so few words cost me so much. Live your life happy and forget about me._

_T_

Tears quietly slipped their way down her cheeks as she read over the words she had written one more time. She knew in her heart that this was for the best, that given time, she'd only destroy him. At least this way she had some hope of salvaging what was left of their friendship. Temperance Brennan wasn't a stupid woman and she knew deep down that she should have put an end to the whole thing months before when Booth had given her an out but, her heart had convinced her brain that this was her happy ending and to snap it up before it disappeared. They had been happy, more than happy, for all she knew they still were in spite of that fear she'd told him about that fateful day that wasn't budging.

When Dr. Goodman had called her into his office earlier in the week to tell her that she had been asked for by name to lead a dig in South Africa for a year she had felt an immense relief. What shocked the hell out of her at the time was that her immediate reaction should have been that she couldn't take the job. The truth was that this was an easy out and she was damned well going to take it, she wasn't about to stick around and make Booth miserable while she waited for the other shoe to drop. Her instinct to run had reared it's ugly little head that day and it all lead up to this moment where she turned her back on the one good thing she'd had in all of her adult life.

Gently placing her note on his pillow she quickly left the bedroom. Fighting back more tears, she gathered her things and silently slipped out the door. Knowing full well that she was breaking his heart, she fought with everything she had not to look back.


End file.
